1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electric ovens.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electric ovens having movable heating elements are known in the art. Such ovens are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,793,023 and 6,091,057, German Patent No. 2906875, French Patent No. 2730796, European Patent Nos. 660646, 966180, 19828641, and 1058483, and Japanese Patent Nos. 291960 and 234742. Some of these ovens utilize electric motors or other electric components to move the heating elements. Ovens utilizing such electric motors and/or electric components are described in the aforementioned European Patent Nos. 966180 and 1058483, German Patent No. 19828641 and Japanese Patent No. 291960. However, the use of such electric motors and other electrical components to move the heater elements increases the manufacturing costs of the electric ovens and thereby increases the retail cost to consumers.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved electric oven that utilizes movable heaters and a manually operated mechanical drive system to move the movable heaters to desired positions.
Additional objects and advantages of the present invention are apparent from the drawings and specification which follow.
The present invention is directed to a double deck toaster oven. As used herein, the phrase xe2x80x9cdouble deckxe2x80x9d refers to an oven configuration that allows two racks to be arranged in a vertical orientation, one above the other, within the heating or cooking chamber of the oven so as to allow the food on both racks to cook simultaneously. Such a configuration is also referred to herein as a xe2x80x9cdouble-rackxe2x80x9d configuration. Thus, the phrases xe2x80x9cdouble-rackxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cdouble deckxe2x80x9d have the same meaning and are used interchangeably. For purposes of brevity, the term xe2x80x9covenxe2x80x9d is used to refer to the double deck toaster oven of the present invention.
The oven of the present invention comprises a cooking chamber having a pair of opposing sidewalls and a rear wall member having a pair of end portions and a protruding portion between the end portions. The cooking chamber has lower and upper portions. The oven further comprises first and second stationary heaters located within the lower and upper portions, respectively, of the cooking chamber. The oven further comprises a pair of movable heaters located between the first and second stationary heaters. Each movable heater is movably attached to a corresponding one of the end portions of the rear wall member and movable between a resting position and a heating position. Each movable heater is adjacent to a corresponding sidewall when the movable heater is in the resting position. The oven further includes a manually operated mechanical drive system for moving both movable heaters simultaneously between the resting position and the heating position. The oven further includes a first pair of rack support members. Each rack support member is attached to a corresponding one of the opposed sidewalls so as to support a rack within the cooking chamber such that the rack is below the movable heaters. The oven further includes a second pair of rack support members. Each rack support member of the second pair is attached to a corresponding one of the opposed sidewalls so as to support an additional rack within the cooking chamber such that the additional rack is above the movable heaters.
The protruding portion of the rear wall member forms a portion of the cooking chamber. Due to the shape and configuration of the protruding portion of the rear wall member, the cooking chamber can accommodate relatively large sized food items. For example, when two racks are placed in the cooking chamber, one above the other, each rack can receive a twelve inch pizza.
A feature of the oven of the present invention is the use of a manually operated mechanical drive system to move the movable heaters between the resting and heating positions thereby eliminating the need for electrical motors or other electrical components to move the movable heaters.
Another feature of the oven of the present invention is that the oven may be quickly and easily converted between a normal, single-rack mode of operation and a double-rack mode of operation.